The present invention relates generally to combination wheeled vehicles and article carriers and pertains, more specifically, to a combination wheeled vehicle and article carrier capable of being converted between selected configurations, including a rider-carrying scooter configuration and a rider-carried pack configuration.
Currently, scooters are enjoying a renaissance among both adults and children and have appeared in various simplified, lightweight designs. These scooters are being used not only for recreational purposes, but for basic short-run transportation as well. Further, a perennial favorite among both adults and children is the ubiquitous backpack, designed to carry a very wide variety of articles in a most-convenient manner. However, in instances where it is desired to carry items, such as books, papers, groceries and other articles usually associated with short-run transportation, the use of backpacks and scooters together has proved to be awkward, at best, and, at worst, dangerous.
The present invention provides a combination wheeled vehicle and carrier which enables a rider of a scooter to carry articles with ease and safety, while allowing the scooter itself conveniently to be carried and stowed. As such, the present invention attains several objects and advantages, some of which are summarized as follows: Provides all of the recreation and convenience of a compact, lightweight scooter combined with the ability to carry a very wide variety of articles with increased ease; enables increased ease of use of a compact scooter, with greater safety, while providing for convenience of transportation and storage of the scooter itself; provides a compact scooter having advanced ride and handling characteristics, combined with the ability to carry items ordinarily inconvenient to carry on a scooter; enables more versatile use of a compact scooter, with increased ease and safety; provides an aesthetically pleasing scooter configuration which attains greater comfort and safety during operation; enables convenience and ease in the storage of a compact scooter so as to allow more widespread use for transportation runs where scooter use previously has proved inappropriate or impractical; provides a highly maneuverable scooter capable of negotiating rough or irregular surfaces, as well as compensating for foreign objects and obstacles which might be encountered along such surfaces, with increased ease and safety; enables selective adjustment of ride and handling characteristics of a scooter; provides a rugged construction capable of exemplary performance over an extended service life.
The above objects and advantages, as well as further objects and advantages, are attained by the present invention which may be described briefly as a combination wheeled vehicle and article carrier capable of being converted between selected configurations, including a rider-carrying scooter configuration and a rider-carried pack configuration, the combination comprising: a main frame; a front wheel assembly on the main frame; a handle having a handle shaft mounted upon the main frame and extending in a generally altitudinal direction upwardly from a given location adjacent the front wheel assembly; a pack member on the main frame, adjacent the front wheel assembly, the pack member extending in a generally altitudinal direction upwardly from the front wheel assembly and juxtaposed with the handle shaft; a carrier compartment within the pack member for carrying articles; a foot board assembly having a near end and a far end spaced away from the near end, the foot board assembly including a foot board extending between the near end and the far end; a mount mounting the foot board assembly upon the main frame for pivotal movement between an extended position, wherein the foot board extends in a generally longitudinal direction for the reception of a rider, and a retracted position, wherein the foot board extends in the generally altitudinal direction in juxtaposition with the pack member; and a rear wheel assembly adjacent the far end of the foot board assembly for selectively being spaced from the front wheel assembly in the longitudinal direction, when the foot board assembly is in the extended position, thereby placing the combination in the scooter configuration so as to support the rider on the foot board between the front wheel assembly and the rear wheel assembly, and for selectively being-retracted into juxtaposition with the pack member, when the foot board assembly is in the retracted position, thereby placing the combination in the pack configuration.